Deeni Sterling, the chair of the 2013 FARE Walk for Food Allergy in Little Rock has a daughter with life-threatening food allergies. Here, in her own words, she shares how Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) has helped her family:

Ecstatic would be an understatement of how we felt when our beautiful baby girl was born after years of praying for a child. Our happy, healthy baby was cherished beyond measure.

It wasn’t until she was 14 months old that we realized something was wrong. After eating a bag of peanuts, her Daddy picked her up and gave her a kiss. Within minutes, our Gerber baby’s face turned into a red, swollen hot air balloon with watery eyes and extremely runny nose. The emergency room sent us home with an EpiPen, and we were told she had life-threatening food allergies. We had no idea what life changes that diagnosis would bring to our family.

It is sobering to realize that your only child could die from a bite of a Reese’s cup. The beloved PB&J that choosy moms choose could actually throw our child into a coma. Protecting her from eating the food is not enough because she could have a serious contact reaction during play with a toddler friend that has left-over Butterfinger on his hands and shirt.

Keeping her in a plastic bubble was tempting, but not an option. So how do you protect your child? FARE (formerly FAAN) was a huge help in equipping us to handle the diagnosis. The key to keeping a child with life-threatening food allergies safe is educating others who care for that child. This includes education of family, friends, babysitters, school, church and anywhere else your child may be, such as soccer practice.

FARE is a well-respected organization recommended by allergists. They provided accurate information we could trust. It helped us to educate others without being perceived as overprotective, psychotic, anxiety-ridden, helicopter parents. At least, we hope we weren’t perceived that way. We used the FARE handouts, books, and videos to educate our daughter’s school. We have been blessed with an awesome, loving, and safe learning environment. Other families have not been so lucky, such as in the recent death of a 7-year-old student in Virginia due to suspected peanut allergy.

My husband and I have also been actively involved in a food allergy education support group for parents of children with life-threatening food allergies in Little Rock—the Arkansas Allergy & Asthma Clinic Food Education Allergy Support Group (AAAC-FEAST.org)—and the FARE materials have been a valuable resource for the group.

Eleven years later after that initial ER visit, we have a smart, funny, artistic, creative, confident, beautiful daughter. She is happy, well-adjusted, and very responsible with the management of her life threatening food allergies to peanuts, tree-nuts, eggs and shell-fish. FARE was a great help in our family’s success. The most exciting thing about FARE is the funding of research so that one day we may have a cure!

What FARE Does

Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) works on behalf of the 15 million Americans with food allergies, including all those at risk for life-threatening anaphylaxis. This potentially deadly disease affects 1 in every 13 children in the U.S.—or roughly two in every classroom. Formed in 2012 as a result of a merger between the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network and the Food Allergy Initiative, FARE’s mission is to ensure the safety and inclusion of individuals with food allergies while relentlessly seeking a cure. The organization does this by providing evidence-based education and resources, undertaking advocacy at all levels of government, increasing awareness of food allergy as a serious public health issue and funding world-class research that advances treatment and understanding of food allergies.

People with food allergies, their family and friends, and local community members will participate in Arkansas’ first ever FARE’s Walk for FOOD ALLERGY on November 9 at The Clinton Presidential Center from 9 a.m. to noon. The FARE Walk is a family-friendly event that is taking place in more than 60 communities nationwide to fund food allergy education, advocacy, awareness, and research. Other activities that day include stories and crafts, face painting, bouncy houses, a magic show, martial arts demonstrations, ballet performances, and more.

Participants can sign up to walk individually or as part of a team. For more information, visit FoodAllergyWalk.org/LittleRock